ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md.— As military operations increasingly rely on digital infrastructure, software security has become essential. To address this, cybersecurity engineers, computer scientists, and policymakers from 70 different government agencies gathered at the Mallette Training Facility for the Summer 2026 System Security Engineering Forum, held June 2-4. The event was a partnership between the Department of War, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the National Security Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Hosted by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Army Software & Innovation Center, the three-day event promoted collaboration and the exchange of ideas to advance software security policy. The forum’s primary goal is to accelerate the delivery of secure, resilient software capabilities to the warfighter.
Delivering Secure Software at the Speed of Relevance
The forum began on June 2 with a keynote from Mr. Garrett Shoemaker, executive director of CECOM ASIC. He stressed the urgent need to modernize software security practices to support Soldiers in a contested cyber environment.
Shoemaker highlighted the importance of embedding security throughout the software lifecycle, introducing the three Ps: platforms, pipelines, and production—as key pillars of secure software delivery.
"Our networks, our data, our systems, our Soldiers, our warfighters are under modern attack in cyberspace," Shoemaker said. "It is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that we are giving them the best tools, the best technology, all rooted in powerful software. We have to make sure that we continue to deliver software quickly ... but just as importantly, deliver it securely."
He challenged the attendees to embrace new technologies to outpace adversaries.
"We are at a crossroads. We have to shift from legacy cybersecurity mentalities and processes and policies, moving into modern cybersecurity where it has to be much quicker—has to take advantage of technology and automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning."
ASIC Innovation: Advancing Artificial Intelligence Security with ARGUS
Following the keynote, the agenda shifted to specific technological advancements. In the afternoon session, Dr. Foteini Argiropoulos, a computer scientist supporting CECOM ASIC, presented the Army Responsible-AI Guardrail Utility System an internally developed artificial intelligence red-teaming platform designed to proactively stress-test models against adversarial exploits, prompt injections, and safety guardrail bypasses.
As the military adopts advanced tools for mission planning, intelligence analysis, and decision support, securing these systems is essential. ARGUS tests the safety and trustworthiness of large language models before deployment.
"We are using large language models in the Department of War, and we are deploying them fast," Argiropoulos said. "But are these actually going to be safe? How can we be sure that they have guardrails, that they are trustworthy?"
ARGUS serves as an automated adversary, running over 1,000 tests to identify vulnerabilities such as prompt injection, bias, and harmful content. In "enforce mode," it can block malicious prompts or outputs, ensuring AI systems used by Soldiers are secure and reliable.
From Black Box to Blueprint: Dyadikos Demystifies Binary Threats
On June 3, Argiropoulos and Jake Burrows, a computer scientist supporting CECOM ASIC, introduced Dyadikos, a tool that uses machine learning to quickly analyze binary files for hidden threats. “Dyadikos,” Greek for “binary,” acknowledges Dr. Argiropoulos’s heritage.
Traditionally, analyzing compiled software for malicious code is a slow, manual process that can take weeks per file. Dyadikos automates this process, using static analysis tools and machine learning to identify potential risks in minutes.
"The whole goal here is to reduce manual review to increase the speed and efficiency of triaging results," Burrows said. "Additionally, with our process, we hope that we can provide the technical lead-up as to why we think this is malicious, instead of just saying, 'It is malicious, do not use it.'"
By accelerating the analysis of software from third-party vendors or unknown sources, Dyadikos helps ensure only safe, vetted tools reach Soldiers, protecting them from malware and advanced cyber threats.
Looking Ahead
The forum concluded on June 4 with an interactive tabletop exercise that enabled CECOM ASIC employees and attendees to apply the concepts and tools discussed during the week.
Through the collaboration of event co-chairs, presenters, and attendees, the Summer 2026 SSE Forum delivered a clear message: the Army is not only adapting to the modern cyber threat landscape, but is also actively developing solutions to address it.
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